Poland delays abortion law discussion amid coalition disagreements

The speaker of parliament decided to postpone the debate on liberalising abortion laws until after local elections in April, as the issue divides the broad ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which includes both conservative and left-wing parties.

While all coalition parties agree that the already rigid abortion law, which became even more restrictive during the eight-year rule of the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS, ECR), needs to be changed, they disagree on how far the change should go.

The centrist Poland 2050 (Renew), led by the former Catholic journalist and philanthropist, now speaker of parliament, Szymon Hołownia, and the agrarian Polish People’s Party (PSL, EPP) want a return to the so-called abortion compromise of 1993, which allowed abortion only in specific cases. These included pregnancies resulting from rape, threats to the mother’s life and severe foetal damage.

Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/S&D) opts for abortion on demand up to the twelfth week of pregnancy. The most far-reaching demands are those of the Left (S&D/Left), which also wants to decriminalise assistance in abortion, which the PiS government has banned.

As a result, four separate bills amending the abortion law have been submitted to parliament. To avoid the issue of abortion dominating the ongoing campaign for the local elections scheduled for 7 April, Hołownia decided to postpone consideration of the bills until after the elections.

“I feel responsible (for ensuring) that certain important things do not happen during this political (pre-election) mayhem,” Hołownia said, referring to changing abortion laws. He added that the emotions surrounding the election campaign were not conducive to debating such important issues.

Hołownia said he feared that during the election campaign, it would be even more likely that all four drafts would be rejected in the parliamentary vote, a risk that must be avoided. Besides, he added, the parliament’s agenda was already overloaded.

The left, however, believes that Hołownia’s behaviour is due to his unwillingness to deal with the issue of abortion and his attempts to postpone the discussion as long as possible. Deputy speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty (New Left/S&D) accused Hołownia and PSL leader Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz of blocking work on the abortion bills.

In 2020, the PiS government further restricted the abortion law through a ruling by the government-controlled Constitutional Tribunal that damage to the foetus is not a reason to terminate a pregnancy. The verdict sparked a wave of protests in Polish cities against the ruling camp and the Catholic Church, which strongly opposes abortion.

The women’s strike, backed by part of the ruling coalition, hopes that Tusk’s government will meet the strike’s demands, including “full women’s rights, legal abortion, sex education, contraception”.

Abortion is one of the most divisive issues not only among politicians but also in Polish society. 63% of Poles oppose abortion on demand, according to the latest poll by the Polish Public Opinion Research Centre (CBOS) published last week.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)